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Proven nuclear technology can help Indonesia meet its economic, energy and environmental goals,. according to Agneta Rising, Director General of World Nuclear Association, who was speaking at the opening of World Nuclear Spotlight Indonesia 2018.

The World Energy Outlook 2017 report, published today by the International Energy Agency, foresees a substantially expanded role for nuclear energy if the world is to meet the challenges of people’s development needs, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions to avoid dangerous levels of climate change.

Comments made by Agneta Rising, Director General of World Nuclear Association, at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ministerial Conference “Nuclear Power in the 21st Century”, being held in Abu Dhabi 30 October – 1 November.

Although peak generation from solar briefly exceeded generation from nuclear energy on 26 May 2017 in the UK, over the whole day nuclear generated considerably more low carbon electricity. Expanding nuclear offers greater potential for emissions savings.

Lloyds Register have today published their latest Technology Radar report, A Nuclear Perspective. The report concludes that nuclear power generation technologies are now cost competitive with fossil fuels and innovation is gathering pace.

Preparations are underway for the restart of the Sendai 1 reactor in Japan. Sendai 1 is a pressurized water reactor (PWR) sited on the southwest coast of Kyushu, the third largest island of Japan. It is owned and operated by the Kyushu Electric Power Company.

World Nuclear News

The UK would have enough energy if the Hinkley Point C project faced further delays, but nuclear power remains an essential part of the country's electricity mix, Business Secretary Greg Clark has told a House of Lords committee. The government does not, however, have a specific target for nuclear energy use in the future, he said.

A cover has been installed over the fuel handling machine that will help remove fuel from the storage pool of unit 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. The removal of the fuel is scheduled to start in mid-2018.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is to conduct pre-licensing vendor design reviews (VDR) of small modular reactor designs from NuScale Power and Westinghouse Electric Company. The reviews of the NuScale SMR and Westinghouse's eVinci micro reactor will incorporate the first two phases of the VDR process.

Work to dismantle the reactor pressure vessel's internals at unit 2 of the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant in Sweden is set to begin at the end of April. Plant operator OKG AB said this will mark the start of the first major decommissioning work at the plant.

Russian regulator Rostechnadzor has issued a licence for the final stage of the start-up procedure - pilot operation - at unit 4 of the Rostov nuclear power plant, which is near the city of Volgodonsk.

The US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration has extended its supply of low-enriched uranium for national security needs for at least the next two decades but should clarify its longer term enrichment needs, the US Government Accountability Office has found.

Ontario Power Generation can proceed with the refurbishment of Darlington unit 3 after receiving the go-ahead from the province's Ministry of Energy. Refurbishment of Darlington unit 2 has now passed the half-way mark.

The US House of Representatives - the lower chamber of Congress - has approved two bills related to nuclear energy research and development. The bills - one for a versatile reactor-based fast neutron source and the other for research into the effects of low-dose radiation - will now pass to the Senate before they can be signed into law by the President.

Kyushu Electric Power Company today began loading fuel into the core of unit 3 at its Genkai nuclear power plant in Japan's Saga prefecture. The reactor, together with unit 4, is expected to be restarted later this year.

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation has overseen a "political risk insurance contract" for the Central Spent Fuel Storage Facility at the site of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. OPIC, the US government's development finance institution, is providing insurance to support the project trust's $250 million fixed-rate bond securities issuance in US capital markets.

Holtec International and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy are to collaborate on accelerating the commercialisation of Holtec's SMR-160 small modular reactor (SMR). Their cooperation will initially include nuclear fuel development and control rod drive mechanisms.

Bruce Power has awarded L3 MAPPS a contract to replace the digital control computer system of unit 2 of the Bruce A nuclear power plant in Ontario. Last year it was awarded a similar contract for unit 6 of Bruce B.

Shine Medical Technologies has completed construction and taken occupancy of Building One at its medical isotope production facility in Janesville, Wisconsin. Construction of the main production facility is to begin soon.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's proposed budget for fiscal 2019 includes nearly $50 million for work related to the proposed Yucca Mountain repository. President Donald Trump's FY2019 budget request for the Department of Energy includes $120 million for Yucca Mountain and an interim storage programme for used nuclear fuel.

A new peer review service has been launched by the International Atomic Energy Agency to assist member states in the development of infrastructure for nuclear research reactors. The first Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review for Research Reactors mission was carried out last week in Nigeria.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company and its joint parties have announced they have accepted the California Public Utilities Commission's ruling on the retirement of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. The company intends to withdraw its application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew the plant's operating licence.

CORRECTED: The USA has extended production tax credits for advanced nuclear power plants under a budget bill signed into law by President Donald Trump. The nuclear production tax credit is seen as an essential component for the completion of US plants already under construction and for first-of-a-kind small modular reactor construction.

A feasibility study on constructing China's first nuclear plant for district heating is being carried out by China General Nuclear (CGN) and Tsinghua University. The plant would use the domestically-developed NHR200-II low-temperature heating reactor technology.

Richard Harrington, parliamentary under-secretary of state at the UK's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, has given notice of the department's intention to seek an advance from the Contingencies Fund to provide financial cover to the Office for Nuclear Regulation.

Lead test assemblies of accident-tolerant boiling water reactor fuel have been shipped to Southern Nuclear Operating Company and will be installed in an operating reactor, Global Nuclear Fuels announced yesterday. The IronClad and ARMOR assemblies will be loaded into the Edwin I Hatch plant.

TAE Technologies, the California, USA-based fusion energy technology company, has announced that its proprietary beam-driven field-reversed configuration plasma generator has set a new company record for plasma temperature. After more than 4000 experiments to date, the generator 'Norman' has now exceeded the capabilities and performance of the company's previous FRC plasma generator, C-2U.

France has demonstrated a comprehensive commitment to safety with a responsible approach to the management of used nuclear fuel and radioactive waste, a mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded. Preparations are under way for missions to Spain later this year.

Exelon's nuclear fleet generated the most power on record in 2017, the company's CEO Christopher Crane said yesterday. The company will start to recognise revenue from Illinois' zero emission credit (ZEC) programme during the first quarter of this year after its Quad Cities and Clinton plants were winning bidders in the state's ZEC procurement.

The loading of fuel assemblies into the core of unit 3 at the Ohi nuclear power plant in Japan's Fukui Prefecture will begin tomorrow, Kansai Electric Power Company announced. The utility plans to return both units 3 and 4 at the plant to commercial operation by mid-2018.

India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board has approved the start of excavation work at Gorakhpur for the construction of two 700 MWe pressurised heavy water reactors. Construction will start on the first unit in 2019, Minister of State Jitendra Singh told the Indian parliament yesterday.

UPDATED World Nuclear Association Director General Agneta Rising said today that nuclear power can help Indonesia meet its economic, energy and environmental goals. Speaking at the opening of World Nuclear Spotlight Indonesia 2018, in Jakarta, Rising said she welcomed the Indonesian government's commitment to supporting innovative nuclear technology.

German utility PreussenElektra has announced that the decommissioning and dismantling of the Unterweser nuclear power plant can now start, following approval from the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment, Energy, Building and Climate Protection. The approval is pursuant to Section 7 (3) of Germany's Atomic Energy Act.

EDF subsidiary Cyclife will treat some 1800 tonnes of metal waste produced during the decommissioning of three Italian nuclear power plants under a contract signed with Societa Gestione Impianti Nucleari SpA. The five-year contract is worth about €28 million ($35 million).

The International Atomic Energy Agency and Indonesia signed a practical arrangement yesterday to promote nuclear science and technology, and to strengthen technical cooperation among developing countries.

The James A Fitzpatrick nuclear power plant, which had been scheduled to close a year ago, is today driving significant investment in local businesses in New York State, Exelon said yesterday. More than $15 million was invested in 2017 in capital projects to support the plant for long-term operations.

China General Nuclear subsidiary China Techenergy Corp recently signed an agreement to cooperate with South Korea's Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction to promote self-developed instrumentation and control products. CTEC has also signed a contract with Doosan to supply SpeedyHold (CTEC’s logic controller), and then Doosan will supply replacement control rod systems to four Korean nuclear power reactors.

Russia has today brought unit 1 of the Leningrad Phase II nuclear power plant to the minimum controllable power level, state nuclear corporation Rosatom has announced. The assembly of the reactor vessel for the unit, which is in Sosnovy Bor in western Russia, was completed in early January.

Dominion's Millstone nuclear power plant is critical to the state of Connecticut and the region of New England for fuel security and meeting emissions targets, state regulatory authorities have found. The commissioners found the plant's continued financial viability could be at risk, but also said Dominion has not yet presented them with verifiable evidence to prove it.

Framatome is the best partner for Lightbridge for developing, licensing and commercialising nuclear fuel assemblies based on its technology, the company's president and CEO Seth Grae told World Nuclear News. Speaking shortly after the companies announced their Enfission joint venture, he said they intend Enfission to become a major player in the international nuclear industry.

Small modular reactors could provide valuable energy resilience for US federal sites as a secure, reliable, and flexible source of primary and backup power, a new report funded by the US Department of Energy has found.

Exelon Generation announced today that it has decided to retire its Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in New Jersey this October. The company had previously agreed with the state to shut the single-reactor plant by the end of 2019.

Scuba divers have started working in the former fuel storage pond of the Sizewell A Magnox nuclear power plant in the UK. They will use lessons learned from underwater work previously carried out to remove radioactive waste from the ponds at the Dungeness A plant.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is participated in the grid connection today of the country's latest reactor - unit 4 of the Rostov nuclear power plant, which is near the city of Volgodonsk. The Kremlin announced Putin's working visit to Rostov would include a video conference broadcasting the milestone at the plant.